I know it's been forever since I last posted anything.  I am a little ashamed at the lapse.  I've started writing my first novel and it's taking over my life.  I can't seem to pull myself out of it long enough to do much of anything else - obviously including blogging.  We also just got back from a much-needed two week trip to the U.S.  We went to California and to Reno.  I'll (hopefully) post some pictures from our time in the states soon.

For now I'm going to do a post that I've been thinking about doing for about a month now, which is how long it's been since we went to the night market with a couple of friends.  The night market was great, if a little hot and crowded.  In Taiwan there are several night markets, each specializing in different things.  I'm pretty sure the Shilin night market that we went to specializes in tourists.  It's the most famous of the night markets and always crowded with tourists and locals alike, eating the food and shopping for the goods and just creating extra heat.

I don't know what these streets look like during the day, but at night they are bustling with activity.  People selling bags and shirts and umbrellas in the middle of the street, shoppers chomping on food, haggling with sellers for better prices, and just strolling through, and food vendors yelling to the crowd to advertise their crispy chicken, pork blood cake, and fruit.


 We hit up the food section first for some dinner before the shopping bonanza began.  The food section is in a whole separate building before you get to the market proper.  Stalls crowd a huge warehouse, and heat and the smell of cooking oil hangs in the air.


We tried oyster omelette, which was good but a little on the slimy side, and Keelung tempura, which is a special deep-fried fish cake.  The fish cake and pickles were pretty good but the bright pink sauce on top was a little strange.